Venom

glue gun eyes. reluctant apes. negotiate their kings. like flesh. paper tears. like wounds. ink bleeds. simple stories. nervous stages. always telling.

cracks in the sun. where the chill can seep inside. shadows on the grass. where someone would've stood.

rage and love. eager anthems. of the powerless.

the wind spoils over the ocean. lost in the sweet confessions of the expanse. adrift. surrounded. devoured by the naught. a tale told in whispers. a lesson taught in silence.

the numbers betray her. counting so much more than she had anticipated. a quiet math at the center of a ripening storm. soft faces given to darkening heavens. heavy ropes testing their knots. tired snakes dragging their apples behind them. small temptations. no longer seem so small.